I don't know (and I'm not saying directing this personally at LNY) but I find it almost morally wrong to "review" a place that has been open only a few days; but especially wrong when it's a not terribly flattering review.

It's been done a few times recently on MFF - which I hold to a higher standard than Eater and other bloggers.

But I'm sure no one agrees with me, so go ahead and tell me I'm wrong.

I don't know (and I'm not saying directing this personally at LNY) but I find it almost morally wrong to "review" a place that has been open only a few days; but especially wrong when it's a not terribly flattering review.

It's been done a few times recently on MFF - which I hold to a higher standard than Eater and other bloggers.

But I'm sure no one agrees with me, so go ahead and tell me I'm wrong.

Any establishment that is open for business is legitimately open to critique. I certainly think it would be wrong for a paper like The Times, to post a review after just a couple of days, as their critic's opinion must stand as the paper's official view for many years. But on a message board, @LiquidNY's comment is merely one in what will probably be a long-running dialogue. If his experience is not typical of Racine's after it has been established a while, that will eventually become clear.

What is less clear is why he was willing to spend $170 on what he knew, or should have known, was not likely to be the best that Racine's is eventually going to be capable of. I usually don't visit during the first week or two, because life's too short for me to spend my money on restaurants that are still going through their teething pains.

I've read plenty of opening week posts on MF. They all take pains to point out that it's early days so the reader can put the post into proper context. I don't see them as proper reviews and I don't think the writers intend them to be read that way. I see them more as first impressions - they're taking one for the team.

Sometimes those early write ups are positive, sometimes they're not. Since we've got a knowledgeable membership here I find it all useful information.

"I don't understand what's wrong with thinking of correlation as a pricing convention the way one thinks of Black-Scholes vol. I mean, vol curves aren't "real" anyway, but nobody uses local vol models to price vanilla options." - Taion

"But this is blatant ultracrepidarianism on my part." - Taion

I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis.

"once the penis came out, there was discussions as to why we didn't order the testicles" - Daniel describing a meal in China

i guess it all depends on how you feel about the people behind it, no?

I for one appreciate Liquid's notes, and see them the way Lex does - early report/impressions, taking one for the team (as in this case) and letting others know. It makes me feel better about being too tired to go there tonight and not being free to go next week while the early adopters rush (also, Urban Daddy featured it today, so crowds will be unavoidable).

I actually went there last week for a Jura wine tasting event (not exactly what you'd call "dinner") with some food, which was solely cold, uncooked stuff - oysters, charcuterie, smoked salmon, cheese - all of which were lovely and at some point accompanied by bread but not exactly enough of a meal to be paired with 11 wines - I assumed they were not able to turn the gas on yet n that night but perhaps there were other reasons. The staff was still getting their bearings but very friendly and eager to please - it must have been their first night serving (there was a famous uptown sommelier helping out, too).

At any rate, I enjoyed the evening, liked the space and have great expectations for the wine list. And I'm perfectly fine giving them some time and appreciate knowing that I should. This place is so close to me and the wines of the kind that I love to drink, I look forward to going and not being potentially disappointed at hello.

They will get it all together and I can't express how excited I am about this place opening within walking distance. But it's always better to know to rein in the expectations, no? I've had plenty of experiences ruined by too high expectations.

“Eat me,’’ it says. “Eat me and die.’’ -- Jonathan Gold

Everything is always OK in the end. If it's not OK, then it's not the end.

Surely the service will improve. The food, maybe - although it isn't bad, it's just not going to get any accolades. I view this place as a wine bar with nice food. Sort of like Wallflower, but with more of a focus on wine.

Wallflower's food has on occasion been very good (tho not always). I agree that it's best treated as a wine bar more than anything else and that's what i expected esp. after the wine event's food. but then i saw the menu today - it reads more restaurant than wine bar (see Terroir for comparison), if quite short.

at any rate, you still gotta eat to be able to keep drinking and i hope to drink there a lot :-)

“Eat me,’’ it says. “Eat me and die.’’ -- Jonathan Gold

Everything is always OK in the end. If it's not OK, then it's not the end.

I find an early review helpful in terms of ranking how desperate I am to get somewhere. A mediocre review is taken with a grain of salt, but I'm less likely to be in an insane rush to get somewhere before it gets too crowded for me.

Surely the service will improve. The food, maybe - although it isn't bad, it's just not going to get any accolades. I view this place as a wine bar with nice food. Sort of like Wallflower, but with more of a focus on wine.

Having known this was coming for months if not years - I was always told it was going to be a wine bar - so I was quite surprised to see so serious a food menu.